by Alan Briskin

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (Creative Commons)

In the Jewish tradition, there is a song beloved on Passover. It’s called Dayenu (pronounced DI A NU) and its meaning is that even in the most difficult of times, it is critical that we appreciate what we have–that what has been done for us is sufficient. Loosely translated, dayenu means “it would have been enough.” It is a song sung to God and I remember this song more than others because on Passover, as a child, I sung it with such exuberance, banging my fist on the table and screaming at the top of my lungs, I was asked to leave.

These memories come back to me as I read Bernie Sanders, the son of Jewish immigrants, who also happens to be Vermont’s U.S. Senator. He is an independent and socialist and I suspect others things outside the normal way business is done. If the Senate could ask him to leave, I’m sure they would, because he deals in solutions that nobody wants to hear.And he has found a way to make dayenu relevant again at the Congressional table, although not in exactly the same way it had originally been intended. He asks the wealthy in America if there is ever going to be enough for them.

He has an ear for rhythm:

In 2007, the top 1% of all income earners in the U.S. made 23.5% of all income.

NOT ENOUGH

The percentage of income going to the top 1% has nearly tripled since the mid-1970′s.

NOT ENOUGH

80% of all new income earned from 1980 to 2005 has gone to the top 1 percent.

NOT ENOUGH

The top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.

NOT ENOUGH

Wall Street executives now earn more than they did before the financial bail out of Wall Street firms.

NOT ENOUGH

The United States now has, by far, the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth.

NOT ENOUGH

You see, Sanders has the melody so critical to deep understanding. For many at the top there is such a feeling of scarcity and privilege that it can never be enough. Lo Dayenu would be their song–Never Enough.

And so Sanders has proposed solutions, believing if a raggedy group of slaves fleeing through the desert and being attacked from all sides could sing about having enough, then it’s possible that even in the most wealthy country in the world, it might again be possible.

In his speech to the Senate on June 27, he listed 13 measures that could reduce the deficit without cutting Social Security, Medicare or other programs:

End the tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Eliminate offshore tax havens, bringing the deficit down by $40 billion over the next decade.

AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for the top two percent of earners, generating $700 billion.

AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Establish an estate tax on inherited wealth of more than $3.5 million, raising another $70 billion over a decade.

AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Shrink military spending and bring the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to an end as soon as possible.

AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Dayenu is a reminder that to live psychologically with the concept of scarcity is to remain a slave. It must never be used as a justification for social inequality. Rather, it is a call for community, that we are grateful for what we have and most notably for laws that bind us together and make us appreciate ourselves as a community.

Alan Briskin is co-author of The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly.

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